Raindrop Prelude - Chopin

274 Words2 Pages
Chopin uses ternary structure in the Raindrop prelude, which is a typical structure in Romantic music. It consists of the first section to the second section then back to the first section. Section A starts from bar 1 to bar 27 and section B is from bar 28 to bar 75, showing that section A is shorter. In section A, the melody is long and heard several times, while in section B, a new melody is heard mainly in the bass. The melody is played in the right hand in section A and moves to the left in section B. Also, there is a lot of ornamentation in the first melodies. The overall and section A key is Db maj. In section B, it is C#. These keys have an enharmonic and tonic minor relation. The pedal note is Ab in section A and is G# in section B. The chords in section B help support the dramatic feel to this section. The chords used in the later parts of section A and the final 6 bars of A1 double in octaves. Also, the E maj. chord in section B make that moment climatic, since it is a brighter sounding chord and suddenly comes in fortissimo in the middle of the section. The use of the pedal note help make the sound sustained. The full range of the [piano used, especially in section B and the development of the piano, which allows the player to perform a wider range of dynamics, helps convey more emotion. All these characteristics in Chopin’s Raindrop prelude make the piece very expressive, which Romantic music was all
Open Document